within a half hour, tyler was already frustrated. he didn't get how easy it was for jenna to control the four children, every time he asked something of them, he got the complete opposite.
"i don't get it, jenna! they love you!" tyler groaned, throwing his face into his hands.
jenna's eyes softened. "ty, don't take it personally. it's probably just because they're so used to me."
tyler rolled his eyes a little. he'd done nothing but watch the clock and think of ways to make these kids like him. it was almost the kids's eight o'clock bed time.
tyler perked up.
"how about we push bedtime back a little? let's go get ice cream!" he suggested. he watched all four kids peek up.
"ty, it's almost bedtime." jenna scolded lightly, brushing her blond hair behind her ear.
"bedtime, shmedtime. who wants ice cream?!" tyler yelled with a bright smile on his face. the four children cheered with him.
the blonde tried as hard as she possibly could to hold back the smile she had forming on her face. it made her laugh how he still had that young charm.
he was the same tyler she'd despised all those years ago. the same tyler who she fell for in the waffle house. she could of sobbed tears of joy right there.
"hey, baby. are you alright?" she asked after grabbing his car keys.
"i couldn't be better, ty." she smiled brighter than all the stars combined.
within a few moments, the party of six was inside columbus, ohio's best ice cream parlors.
tyler insisted on getting the kids whatever they felt like, he was sure they were going to be tired enough to go straight to bed when they got back home anyway.
"how did you and auntie jenna meet?" canaan asked before taking a large scoop on his sundae into his mouth.
jenna laughed a little. "oh, gosh. we met in high school. i didn't like tyler, though." she giggled.
tyler shoved her playfully. he recollected everything from the locker-room, to the day maddy was selling her girl scout cookies, and to when jenna left back for california.
"everything just fell into place, you know?" tyler said with a small smile. he felt a rush of crimson go to his cheeks.
he watched as jenna fed zion small bites of her strange flavored ice cream. god, he was whipped.
the brunette continued a conversation with the two little boys, telling them embarrassing stories about jenna and giving them mediocre elementary school dating advice.
they sat in the parlor longer then they expected. by the time tyler checked his phone it was nine-thirty.
"we should probably get going back." jenna motioned to the sleeping zion and mercy. tyler chuckled before loading all the children back into the car.
the ride home felt too short. tyler wanted to savor every moment with his girl, with his girl's family, everything about the night flew by too quick.
because soon enough, the six were standing right back in the living room saying their good nights. jenna made sure to get everyone in their jammies with their teeth brushed.
"auntie jen?" malachi asked from his bed. jenna was just walking out to turn the light off.
"yeah, hon?" she turned around, her blonde ponytail bound hair whipped around her.
"is tyler our uncle?" he asked with wide eyes. jenna sighed, not that she was disappointed, she just wished she could tell tyler how in love she was with him and live a fantasy together.
"hopefully soon." she said sweetly and simply before turning the light off.
tyler practically melted from the other side of the hallway as he put the girls asleep. he was ready to sweep jenna off her feet and marry her right there.
although, he did have some sense of sanity and romanticism. he pretended not to hear, nonetheless.
he let a more than audible sigh pass through his pink lips when he met jenna back on the couch.
she laid her head into his lap, letting his large hands run through her long blonde hair.
"you did really good, ty." she blushed before moving deeper into the warmth of his body.
"thanks, jen. you carried me though." he gave a small laugh, letting jenna feel it through his body vibrations.
their atmosphere was silent, now it was only them. jenna's head in tyler's lap, tyler's arms wrapped around jenna. both of their noses cold and red from ohio's frigid air, and hair full of flyaways and frizziness from the howling wind.
"everything really brought me back today. i have no idea if that makes sense but i felt young again. like, i know i am young but i felt like i was back in high school again. when you would take me on terrible dates because we were both broke so we'd just end up back at my house." jenna smiled with twinkling back.
tyler knew that bothered her a bit. her family was still very touchy, she didn't talk to her parents anymore so it was still awkward. tyler made life bearable, he made living easy.
"i caught that too. we really haven't changed." he laughed, taking her beauty in.
"yeah, it's like we never really did leave each other. were the same people. except you're saving lives with your music now." she laughed a little. she really was impressed with tyler, no matter how much he didn't want her to make a huge deal about it.
"you save me from starvation, little miss culinary." he snickered, leaning his head down to sprinkle butterfly kisses across her blush flushed face.
"tyler joseph, you're my soulmate." she smiled. that almost felt a little better than 'i love you'. soulmates were something so intricate and so rare.
"well you, jenna black, you are my soulmate. i love you." this time he kissed her lips, somehow creating more warmth between the two.
"i love you more." she buried her face deeper into tyler's sweatshirt clad tummy.
they fell asleep like that. tyler sunk into the back cushion on the couch, still sitting, while jenna curled into a ball into his lap.
they were so in love.
